By Michael Stets
After finishing 9-7 and missing the playoffs for the second time in his four seasons with the Lions, Jim Caldwell is no longer the head coach in Detroit.
The Lions fired Caldwell on Monday morning, according to the team’s official Twitter account, just a day after closing out the 2017 season with a 35-11 win over the Green Bay Packers.
“On behalf of my family and the Lions organization I would like to thank Jim Caldwell for his exemplary leadership and service to our team and our community over the past four years,” Lions owner and chairman Martha Firestone Ford said in a statement released by the team.
“I believe Jim is one of the finest leaders we’ve ever had as our head coach. Not only did he guide us on the field to three winning seasons, but he also set a standard of excellence off the field that had a tremendous impact on everyone in our organization and our entire community.
“As many of our players have already said, his influence on them transcended the game of football and will positively serve them throughout their lives. Our organization is better because of Jim, and we are forever grateful. We wish Jim, his wife Cheryl and the entire Caldwell family all the best that life can offer.”
Caldwell, who will turn 63 this month, finished with a 36-28 record as the Lions head coach. HIs winning percentage is the highest of any Lions coach in the Superbowl era, but he failed to get the franchise its first post-season victory since 1991.
In his first season in 2014, he led the team to an 11-5 record and a playoff appearance. In his second season, the team started out 1-7, then went 6-2 in the second half of the year to finish 7-9. After that losing season, the Lions cut bait with Martin Mayhew and hired Bob Quinn to replace him as general manager, who retained Caldwell as head coach. Caldwell led the Lions to a playoff berth in 2016 after posting a 9-7 record, but the Lions were handled fairly easily in an embarrassing loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Wildcard round, 26-6.
The Lions started out 2017 at 3-1, and were 6-4 after 10 games, but finished at 9-7 once again. They dropped three of their last six games, including a brutal 26-17 loss to the lowly Cincinnati Bengals, which eliminated their playoff aspirations, and ultimately cost Caldwell his job.
Many players have voiced their support for Caldwell–who was highly respected within the organization–in recent days as the speculation he may lose his job began to mount, including Matthew Stafford and Golden Tate.
“I love coach Caldwell,” Tate said last week. “I love his coaching style. I love the man that he is. I love the leader that he is for this locker room and this community. I love the Christian he is. I love him. I want to play for him forever, but that’s not my decision. Who knows when the last day for any of us is?”
Caldwell was asked about his job status immediately after Sunday’s win over the Packers, but would not openly discuss it, saying he was “still working.” He said “no” when asked if he had any regrets. And said, “I just think there’s some things that got done” when asked what his proudest moment was.
Quinn can begin interviewing head coaching candidates immediately, but will have to wait on hiring any coaches who are in the playoffs until after the season ends. With strong ties to his former team the New England Patriots, it is expected that Quin will interview Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who was named in several reports this past weekend. New England has a first-round bye, so he’d be able to interview up until Sunday. Coaches on teams in the Wildcard round can interview after this week.